Review of The Grey (2012) by Mitch R — 14 Jun 2013

First of all, this was not the movie that it was advertised to be. Advertised as an action/adventure, that aspect of the film really becomes a background to what was a emotional-drama. But that aside, it still could have been a good movie.

Unfortunately, it wasn't. Liam Neeson, who is an awesome actor, failed to show his skill in an extremely lackluster performance. You don't develop any sort of sympathy to his character despite their annoyingly endless attempts to remind you that he lost somebody that he loved dearly (that's really all you ever know.) And to top it off, Neeson's character was probably the only one who had any sort of characterization at all, leaving the other survivors even more shallow and unsympathetic. Disappointing, to say the least.

So all the film is really left with is the action/adventure that you expected from the trailers. While the film does do an extremely good job at keeping you at the edge of your seat at times, it starts to become tedious towards the end as you realize how stupid the wolves are (albeit very scary looking) and the ending of the movie starts to become more and more obvious. And of course, when you finally get to the end, you are even more disappointed than you expected to be. (Note: there is a post credits scene... but I have difficulty claiming it's worth the wait.).

The film still deserves 2 and 1/2 stars though. It's suspenseful and can surprise you when it wants too, and the action scenes that it does have are well done. Sound mixing, music, and cinematography reach the levels of far better movies, and the film is interesting enough when watched from an artistic/film-makers perspective. Just don't go into the movie with any of the expectations formed by the trailer, or previous Liam Neeson performances, and you should be fine.